TITLE: Technical Lead- Family Planning
(TL-FP), Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) project
DEPARTMENT: International Partnerships & Programs
REPORTS TO: Tanzania Project Director, Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) project
ASSIGNMENT TYPE: Full-time
LOCATION: Mwanza, Tanzania
LENGTH: 24-months with possibility to extend based on performance and budget
ABOUT AMERICARES:
Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that saves lives and improves health for people affected by poverty or disaster. Each year, Americares reaches more than 90 countries, including the United States, with life-changing health programs, medicine and medical supplies. Americares is the world’s leading nonprofit provider of donated medicine and medical supplies. For more information, visit americares.org.
About Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) Project:
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) has awarded CPRC to the Americares Foundation Inc.. NPI is shifting the focus of USAID’s traditional partners to mentoring, capacity-building, and technical oversight, by using umbrella mechanisms and sub-awards strategically to enable new and underutilized local partners to lead development in their own communities and advance the Journey to Self-Reliance. USAID seeks to expand its network of partnerships with local organizations because they can mobilize quickly and take advantage of long-standing grassroots relationships to bring needed interventions directly to people at risk.
The Americares Community Partnerships for Respectful Care (CPRC) project is a five-year, $25 million effort under NPI to reduce mortality and morbidity among mothers and their children through improved community-based health care. Americares will work with Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) and its local affiliates in the United Republic of Tanzania (Christian Social Services Commission-CSSC) and the Republic of Liberia to leverage the expertise and reach of local and locally established organizations, by building their institutional capacity. This new partnership will work closely with Tanzanian and Liberian communities and faith-based networks to improve access to, and demand for, high-quality, community-based health care for mothers, newborns, and children; voluntary family planning; nutrition; and respectful maternity care.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The TL-FP will provide technical and programmatic oversight and direction in the areas of reproductive health Family Planning. S/He will work closely with other Technical Leads and MEL Specialist in the CPRC project to identify strategic opportunities with project senior management, FP/RH partners, and relevant government officials in the development of strategic programs, innovations, implementation, and monitoring to ensure efficient delivery of integrated FP/RH services that is within the Tanzanian health care system.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Training and Other Capacity Building Activities
- Oversee the tailored implementation of FP/RH interventions as an essential services package by working closely with the project’s team, CSSC staff to provide technical assistance and guidance for FP/RH clinical and community activities in project-supported facilities and communities
- Providing technical support on the integration of FP/RH services focusing on a variety of technical areas such as training; full and free informed choice; infection prevention; health promotion; operations research; and clinical quality improvemen
- Work with various national level technical working group to provide inputs into strategic and technical FP/RH planning documents
- Support the rollout of in-service coaching, mentoring and supportive supervision for facility and community-based health care providers in all FP/RH interventions
- Strengthen FP guidance, tools, and procedures for rigorous continuous implementation evaluation of training needs that ensures the inclusion of respectful maternity care in materials and training modules
- Coordinate FP/RH need-based refresher trainings for partners and facility-based staff where the CPRC project is implemented
Support capacity building activities for CSSC through training and mentorship program
- Champion Family Planning and reproductive health services to adolescents
- Ensure capacity building activities, alongside with MOHCDGEC trainers and mentors to increase knowledge, attitude and positive attitude toward FP, nutrition for children and pregnant and lactating women of healthcare providers
- Routinely monitor and strengthen FP quality-of-service provision by health staff, including CSSC staff
- Conduct regular supervisory visits and meetings, in collaboration with FP/RH partners
- Conduct data quality audits to validate results prior to including them in the monthly reports
- Ensure that FP data is reported from the health facilities, relayed to the respective CHMTs
- Reinforce the management system of health facilities and the CHMTs as a feedback mechanism to ensure high quality implementation of FP activities to meet project objectives
- Champion and promote awareness raising activities and understanding of relevant issues of FP/RH and nutrition in CPRC project covered regions and council
Planning and coordination
- Coordinate integration of FP in maternal health services at both community and facility-based interventions
- Support the rollout of in-service coaching, mentoring and supportive supervision for facility and community-based health care providers
- Liaise with the team, develop, and promote partnerships and networking with relevant FP stakeholders including and not limited to local authorities, MOHCDGEC, partners, and other stakeholders as appropriate
- Oversee FP/RH activities to ensure quality and timely service delivery including integrated outreach campaigns and activities
- Coordinate with other Technical Leads and CSSC staff to meet CPRC project needs for field visits activities
- Work closely with other Technical Leads, MEL Specialist, CSSC team to monitor referrals and continuum of care linkages between CHWs and facility-based services
- Facilitate, with CPRC project partners, the MOHCDGEC, and external partners as well, community mobilization and awareness raising on FP/RH prevention and counseling services
- In collaboration with other Technical Leads, coordinate monthly CHWs activities and data review meetings
- Ensure and provide cross-facility learning, collection of good and best practices, documentation and experience sharing with outside and inside CPRC partners, on FP/RH, MNH, and nutrition
- Actively engage in national, regional, Council level FP/RH networks settings and groups
Leadership
- Provide technical leadership to ensure integration of FP/RH in CPRC Project
- Provide FP/RH technical support during the design, development, planning and implementation phases
- Provide in country technical support to develop/adapt and implement FP/RH innovative capacity building approaches to ensure high quality performance of healthcare providers, CSSC, and CHWs
- Ensure that the FP/RH project strategy adheres to MOHCDGEC and global strategies and are technically sounds during design, planning and implementation phases
Reporting:
- Identify and disseminate best practices and new technical strategies and approaches in the FP/RH area of expertise
- Ensure the CHWs and community-facilities linkages data on FP/RH services are adequately established for timely reporting including the use reporting tools
- Ensure quality and timely submission of comprehensive reports are submitted accordingly
CORE AMERICARES RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Foster Americares values of responsiveness, results orientation, collaboration, efficiency and integrity
- Coach, support and develop staff to increase individual and team effectiveness
- Develop and manage implementation of plans to increase team operating performance, including SOPs and other efficiency initiatives
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in clinical disciplines (Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery) with at least 3 years experiences with post-graduate level training in public health is added advantage
- Advanced Diploma holder (Nursing, Medicine, Midwifery) with at least 5 years work experiences in community- facility FP and RMNCAH interventions is highly preferred
- Experiences in the technical designing, developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating FP projects and implementation of FP/RH programs is added advantage
- Ability to coach, mentor and develop technical capacity in service delivery programs and technical staff in the areas of maternal, newborn and child health, and performance and quality improvement
- A good knowledge of current family planning/postpartum family planning approaches, preferably with understanding of the National and USAID’s approaches
- Strong organizational skills, capacity to think strategically and attention to detail
- Excellent English-language writing skills
- Proficiency in Office 365 including Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint and SharePoint
- Willingness and ability to travel
- Unrestricted authorization to work in Tanzania
Credit: Ajira Yako